Normally I get that I’m in Kenya, but there are days when it just sort of hits me…I’m in Kenya. As I was sitting having lunch today at C4KK (green grams and chapatti…2 of my favorite foods here) listening to the kids laughing, playing and joking around I thought “wow, I’m in Kenya, eating lunch like it’s the most normal thing in the world.” Which it is my normal now but sometimes it still surprises me.
One thing I do not believe will ever be normal is the fact of paying for high school. This only came up because I just received a phone call from a secondary student’s teacher saying we owe more money. We paid exactly what the school said we should pay for Term 1 (approximately 25000/ksh which is about $310 USD) and now they are saying we owe about 2000/ more. I told the teacher I would need an explanation before any more fees would be forth coming. She said the administration would need to talk with me…which they won’t call me and use their shilling, I’ll have to pay for the call myself to get this straightened out otherwise the school will simply send the student home for lack of payment.
It isn’t the norm for me, yet it is certainly the norm for Kenya and it’s one of those areas where I can really get frustrated. Lord give me whatever it is I need to get through this.
Update: So I call the administrator and he has no idea what I’m talking about! He will need to check with the student to “clear it up”. I have no idea if he’ll call me back or he expects me to call back but I’m in the waiting game now…..if they want to clear up the fees I guess they’ll eventually call me. I really don’t like this.